Sambalpur University starts M.Tech in Food science & technology; ad for the other post graduate programs
Update:SUIIT now has a web page at http://suniv.ac.in/SUIIT.html. Thanks to kddf for the pointer.
1 comment April 30th, 2010
Archive for April, 2010
Jain organization (JITO) plans a 5000 crore world-class university in Gujarat
Following is an excerpt from a 2009 report in jobberclub.
Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) plans to establish a world-class university with Rs 5,000 crore investment in Gujarat.
JITO, which is having its global summit in Ahmedabad over the week-end, may also sign an MoU with the Gujarat government during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit-09. The university will come up over 200 acres of land near Ahmedabad.
… “The blue print of the world class university is ready. The upcoming university will be managed separately by the Jain Education Trust,” said Utkarsh Shah, president, JITO-Ahmedabad chapter. Shah said the university will provide courses in all relevant fields.
April 29th, 2010
Innovation University Bill and other education bills that are in the pipeline
Based on this PRS page the following relevant bills are listed for introduction in this parliament session (to end on May 7th 2010).
- The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010
- Prohibits adoption of certain unfair practices in these Institutions and protects interests of students.
- The Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010
- Establishes Tribunals for effective and expeditious adjudication of disputes arising in higher education.
- The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) (Amendment) Bill, 2010
- Amends the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006.
- The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010
- Provides for regulation of entry and operations of Foreign Educational Institutions to impart higher education in India.
- The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Institutions Bill, 2010
- Provides for external quality assessment of higher educational institutions and programmes through mandatory accreditation and creates an institutional structure for regulation of accreditation agencies.
- The Institute of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010
- Brings eight new IITs within the ambit of “the Institute of Technology Act".
- The National Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010
- Amends various procedures and includes IISER in the NIT Act, 2007.
- The Innovation Universities Bill, 2010
- Provides for establishment of innovation Universities aiming at world class standards.
- The Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research Bill, 2010
- Establishes Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, as an institution of national importance
April 29th, 2010
Center mulling possible changes in world-class/innovation/national university sites?
Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.
The Prime Minister’s Office is having second thoughts on letting 14 world class innovation universities come up in places selected during Arjun Singh’s tenure.
Sources said the system of first selecting the sites and then building the universities will not work in case of these institutions since the concept is different than a usual university. Besides, there has been a major change in the concept of innovation universities from the time of Singh. The HRD ministry in its latest concept note has suggested that apart from the government even private educational be allowed to set up these universities.
On the places selected during Arjun Singh’s tenure, an official said, “Innovation universities should come up in places that can attract students and world class faculty. Some of the sites selected earlier will not be able to live up to the expectations from a world class university.”
But the twist in the tale is that many of the states have already finalized the sites for these institutions and will definitely protest in case the Centre changes its stand now. In many cases, states have shortlisted sites away from what HRD had finalised. This could become a problem.
… Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have selected sites in Sabarkantha and Sehore, respectively. But since these two places were not shortlisted by the HRD ministry, Gujarat has been asked to finalise a site near Ahmedabad or Gandhinagar and MP in an area near Bhopal.
I think, one may get a wrong interpretation of the above report until they read the last paragraph. Also, Sehore is near Bhopal; it is only 38 kms from Bhopal. So something is missing; perhaps the reporter or his source did not do a proper fact-checking.
However, if the center indeed plans to change some of the sites that it had announced earlier, then the sites that may be in most danger may be the sites that are not near state capitals. But that itself will be very difficult after the series of announcements in the parliament and other venues.
- March 28 2008: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36955
- April 21, 2008: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37684
- Dec 16, 2008: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=45702
- Feb 12, 2009: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=47448
- July 21, 2009: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50715
See http://www.orissa2020.org/appendix/location-of-proposed-national-universities for the comparison of the sites that were initially picked. Finally, the center would not dare to take away one of these universities from one state and give it to another state.
2 comments April 29th, 2010
More Ravenshaw news: New Program on Hospitality; Construction of Barrier-free Campus starts
The first article is from Samaja and the second is from Dharitri.
It is good that Ravenshaw is introducing many new programs; I wish and hope that it would also strengthen the traditional programs.
April 28th, 2010
Current and planned schools and centers of CUO Koraput
The following is extracted from the latest CUO prospectus available at http://cuorissa.org/Central-University-of-Orissa-koraput-india/files/2032010KprospectusCUOdraft%5B1%5D.pdf.
The current schools and centers are:
- School of Languages
- Center for Odia language and literature
- Center for English language and literature
- School of Social Sciences
- Center for Anthropological Studies
- Center for Sociological Studies
- Center for Media Studies
It proposes the following schools and centers.
- School of Basic Sciences : (a) Mathematics
- School of Health Sciences: (a) Nursing, Public Health and Community Health
- School of Development Studies: (a) Economics
- School of Biodiversity and Conservation
- School of Education technology
- Center for Indigenous Studies
April 27th, 2010
CUO Koraput entrance exam to be on May 22nd and 23rd 2010
From the prospectus cover:
The logo of Central University of Orissa symbolizes the pride of the Nation and stands for search of knowledge. The wheel inside the symbol signifies progress, prosperity and betterment of the human being and has been inscribed in the famous Sun Temple of Konark, Orissa. The textbook inside the symbol denotes the wisdom and source of knowledge. The flame crated in front of the textbook reflects a ray of hope, source of light to overcome ignorance and darkness through the enlightenment. This design represents the universal brotherhood, unity and integrity which is closely associated with the State of Orissa.
The last date for submitting application was April 19th 2010. This year it offers the following courses:
- MA in Odia
- MA in English
- MA in Anthropology
- MA in Sociology
- MA in Journalism and Mass Communication
Its prospectus available at http://cuorissa.org/Central-University-of-Orissa-koraput-india/files/2032010KprospectusCUOdraft%5B1%5D.pdf has a lot of materials regarding the plan of the university. We will write about them in a later posting.
On related news Central Universities of Kashmir, Jharkhand, Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are planning a common entrance test this year. The CU Tamil Nadu will be conducting the test. However, I could not find information about this in its web page. I guess their plan came too late for other central universities, such as CU Orissa, to participate in it.
April 26th, 2010
MCL Medical College foundation laying on April 30th; MCL to spend 300-400 crores for this college at Talcher: Samaja
April 26th, 2010
IIT Bhubaneswar faculty list
Update on August 26 2010:
- N. Barik, School of Basic Sciences (Physics)
- Y. V. Rao, School of Basic Sciences (Mathematics)
- Animesh Mandal, School of Mechanical Sciences
- Anamitra Basu, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (In IIT Bhubaneswar 2010-11 brochure)
- Bio: Ph: +91 9674498481 Email: anamitrabasu2@gmail.com
Dr. Anamitra Basu is presently working as an Assistant Professor in the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management of the institute. She joined the institute as a faculty member in 2010, after serving tenure as an assistant professor for almost four years at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. Earlier she has also served the academia for two years as lecturer in a reputed institute. Her experience in hospital industry for more than four years inspired her to undertake field of Cognitive Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology as the field of research. She was a Gold Medallist in Bachelors degree from the University of Calcutta. She obtained her Masters degree from the University of Calcutta in the year 1996. She obtained her doctorate from IIT Kharagpur and her post doctorate study from University Balise Pascal, France. She has two peer reviewed international journals in the field of Cognitive Psychology and three other
international journals are awaiting. Her present research includes Emotion and facial expressions using electromyography (EMG) and producing a new database along with her earlier research fields. She has always been an active member in conferences, workshops. She is a life member of National Academy of Sciences (NAOP), Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI).
- Bio: Ph: +91 9674498481 Email: anamitrabasu2@gmail.com
- Sisir Kumar Nayak, School of Electrical Sciences (In IIT Bhubaneswar 2010-11 brochure)
- Ph.D IISc Bangalore 2009. Postdoc at Royal Inst of Technology-KTH, Stockholm, Sweden.
With this the total faculty count is at 46: Basic Sciences (17), Electrical Sciences (6), Infrastructure (8), Mechanical Sciences (9), Humanities and Social Sciences (6)
Update on August 20 2010:
- Dukhabandhu Sahoo, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Update on June 11 2010: Since the list below was made, some new faculty have joined. They are:
Merging the lists at http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/ver3/facultymember.html and http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/ver3/pdf/pic.pdf we get the following list of 37 faculty at IIT Bhubaneswar. (Our earlier list was at https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3364.) The schoolwise break up is as follows:
- Basic Sciences (14: Chemistry -7; Math -3; Physics – 4)
- Electrical Sciences (5)
- Infrastructure (6)
- Mechanical Sciences (8)
- Humanities, Social Sciences & Management (4)
1 comment April 26th, 2010
Admission notice for the Masters in Public Health program run by Ravenshaw University in collaboration with AIPH
April 26th, 2010
National Institute of Open Schooling
Its webs site is http://www.nios.ac.in/. Following is information from that page.
The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) formerly known as National Open School (NOS) was established in November,1989 as an autonomous organisation in pursuance of National Policy on Education 1986 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD), Government of India. NIOS is providing a number of Vocational, Life Enrichment and community oriented courses besides General and Academic Courses at Secondary and Senior Secondary level. It also offers Elementary level Courses for 14+ age group through its Open Basic Education Programmes (OBE).Government of India through a gazette notification vested NIOS with the authority to examine and certify learners registered with it upto pre degree level courses.
Academic programs it offers are given in the page http://www.nios.ac.in/AcadPC.htm. They are:
Open Basic Education: Open Basic Education (OBE) Programme providing a elementary education at three levels, for school drop-outs and neo-literates, out of school learners through Accredited Agencies.
– Secondary Course equivalent to Class X
– Senior Secondary Course equivalent to class XII
NIOS has established an International Centre for Training in Open Schooling (ICTOS)
NIOS HQ is in NOIDA. It has regional centers in Delhi, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Pune, Chandigarh, Kolkata (with a subcenter in Bhubaneswar), Patna, Kochi, Jaipur, Bhopal, Allahabad (with a sub-center in Dehradun).
It has study centers across the country and across Orissa. The list is available at http://www.nos.org/nosresults/nos/searchai.html.
Odisha should push for having a regional center.
April 25th, 2010
Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF)
Following is from the page http://rrrlf.nic.in/aboutfrm.htm.
RRRLF is a central autonomous organization established and fully financed by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. RRRLF is registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961. It is the nodal agency of the Governemnt of India to support public library services and systems and promote public library movement in the country commensurate with the objectives as embodied in its Memorandum of Association.
… The Foundation works in close association and active cooperation with different State Govts. and Union Territory Administrations through a machinery called State Library Planning Committee (SLPC/SLC) set up in each State at the instance of the Foundation. To participate in Foundation’s programmes, a State Government/U.T. is required to contribute a certain amount fixed by the Foundation.
Since 2005-06 the Foundation has also taken up the initiative to develop the District Youth Resource Centre (DYRC) in collaboration with Nehru Yuvak Kendra Sangathana, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs.
The objectives of RRRLF, as listed in http://rrrlf.nic.in/objecfrm.htm are as follows:
RRRLF function as a promotional agency, an advisory and consultancy organisation a funding body for public library developement in India. Some important objectives are :
to promote library movement in the country ;
to enunciate a national library policy and to help build up a national library system ; to provide financial and technical assistance to libraries ; to provide financial assistance to organisations, regional or national engaged in the promotion of library developement ; to promote research in problems of library developement ; to advise the government on all matters pertaining to the library developement in the country.
As per http://hkmsl.gov.in/librariesorissa.htm Odisha collaborates with RRRLF for its libraries.
4 comments April 25th, 2010
Ali Yavar Jung National Institute For The Hearing Handicapped (AYJNIHH) has a Training Center for Teachers of the Deaf near Bhubaneswar
The page http://www.ayjnihh.nic.in/aw/centers.html lists the 5 centers of this institute with HQ in Mumbai. Besides Bhubaneswar, the other centers are at New Delhi, Kolkata, Secunderabad, Bhopal. The whereabouts of the Bhubaneswar center is:
At – Ogalapada, Post – Janla
Dist. Khurda, Orissa – 752 054
Telephone: 0674 – 2460641
Telefax : -0674-2460641
E-mail : tctdbbsr@yahoo.com
It offers the following two diploma programs in Bhubaneswar. More details are available at the page http://www.ayjnihh.nic.in/aw/manpower1.html.
| Title of the Course | Name of the University | Center | No. of Seats | Duration | Eligibility for admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diploma in Special Education (Hearing Impairment) [D.SE(HI)] | RCI | New Delhi, Kolkata, Secunderabad, Bhubaneshwar | 20 each | 2 years | Passed 10 + 2 Std. or its equivalent examination from a recognised Board of Education with minimum 45% marks |
| Diploma in Hearing, Language and Speech (DHLS) | RCI | New Delhi, Kolkata, Secunderabad, Bhubaneshwar | 20 each | 1 year | Passed 10 + 2 Std. or its equivalent with PCB/PCM |
1 comment April 25th, 2010
Why scoff at a cancer hospital built near Raipur by Vedanta, the aluminum corporate, or the proposed Vedanta University in coastal Orissa?
The Outlook article http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?265171 by B. G. Verghese counters well the Arundhati Roy type viewpoints. Following are some excerpts.
… Why scoff at a cancer hospital built near Raipur by Vedanta, the aluminum corporate, or the proposed Vedanta University in coastal Orissa? Are these by definition all wicked enterprises? Arundhati extols the joys of sleeping in her private open-air jungle suite in a “thousand-star hotel”. And then she meets the doctor, obviously a dedicated soul, who serves this tribal area. The health conditions in Dandakaranya he describes make her “blood run cold”. It’s a terrible tale of chronic anaemia, TB, kwashiorkor (extreme malnutrition), malaria, severe eye and ear infections…. “There are no clinics, no doctors, no medicines” in this beautiful place for these beautiful people. (The word “beautiful” appears like a recurring decimal). So where do we begin? By burning down the Vedanta hospital?
Are these corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions merely to be seen as bribes to fulfil Arundhati’s prophecy that tribal people will be moved to make way for steel plants, aluminum refineries, mines and dams. Yes, there will be land acquisition and displacement—that is the story of civilisation; but there will also be resettlement, compensation and training for new vocations. Admittedly, this has not always been done wisely or well. But times are changing. New legal frameworks, better norms, closer monitoring, improved R&R and livelihood packages have continuously been put in place.
… The country needs to lift itself out of poverty and create 12 million additional jobs every year to cope with the population bulge. This requires wherewithal—financial, human, natural resources, managerial, marketing and technological. The vast bulk of the country’s mineral resources and headwaters of major rivers are located in Fifth Schedule areas, where tribal people live. Are these not to be exploited? The corporate world, both public and private, has been dubbed predator—the Maoists have repeatedly attacked the National Mineral Development Corporation in Chhattisgarh. However, the tribals themselves are incapable of working the minerals, apart from scratching the surface. Yet they have a vital stake in the land, forests and environment and must be made stakeholders and partners and trained for ever higher levels of participation. Unfortunately, every effort has been made to stall any kind of development.
There is much virtue in translating Gandhi’s concept of trusteeship in a new and evolving idiom of CSR to which corporates, the state and courts have variously given expression. The new deals being worked out by the POSCOs, Vedantas, Tatas, Mittals and others are greatly in advance of what was on offer even five years ago. These packages and the legal framework around them will keep improving too. India’s diversity defies “one size fits all” solutions; it is in variety and experimentation that best practices will keep emerging.
The corporates may have something to answer for too. Fly-by-night operators are part of the problem but the more responsible entities are becoming part of the solution as huge long-term stakeholders in the enterprises, people and environment they work in. They command the resources, manpower, technology and organisation to deliver. Various partnerships involving community and area development can be forged. This is happening. ‘People’s Tribunals’ keep mouthing yesterday’s tired slogans. They do not see tomorrow; may be they even fear it.
April 25th, 2010
IISc second campus being pursued at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh
Update: The Karnataka CM says the second campus of IISc will be in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
Following is an excerpt from a report in outlookindia.com.
Union Minister for Human Resources Development Kapil Sibal today said the Centre has examined a proposal of setting up a second campus of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
Sibal, in a letter to Chief Minister K Rosaiah, said he had mooted the idea of opening a second campus with the IISc management.
The Andhra Pradesh government has, for some time now, been pursuing the issue with the Centre.
Initial proposals were to create an Advanced Research Centre, extending the Academia-Government-Industry interactions, and also creation of a Science Park and an Incubation Centre.
The IISc team visited the state to survey the sites and found a 1000-acre piece of land in Anantapur district suitable for the project as it was just 70 km from the Bengaluru International Airport, well connected by 4-lane national highway.
The Union Minister informed the Chief Minister that modalities like Memorandum of Understanding for sale of land and time-frame for making available the basic infrastructure were being worked out. "Further developments in this regard will be communicated on receipt of fresh inputs from IISc," Sibal said in the letter.
April 25th, 2010